Abstract: A system and method of fluctuation enhanced gas-sensing using SAW devices includes processes for improved chemical analyte detection, identification, and quantification through the measurement and spectral analysis of frequency fluctuations in the instantaneous frequency of a chemical sensor arranged to produce an oscillatory output signal when exposed to chemical substances. The system and method may use a chemical sensor, such as a surface acoustic wave (SAW) device. The spectral analysis produces the power spectral density of the frequency fluctuations, which are represented as a pattern that includes information about the analyte(s) such as, total adsorbed gas mass and diffusion coefficients. The diffusion coefficients may then be used to determine the number of molecule types and/or the concentration of each.

Abstract: A signal processing method comprises: a) detecting sample auxiliary signals from an auxiliary signal and sample reference signals from a reference signal at different times; b) applying an auxiliary weight from a set of auxiliary weights to a corresponding sample auxiliary signal to create weighted sample auxiliary signals; c) applying a reference weight from a set of reference weights to a corresponding sample reference signal to create weighted sample reference signals; d) creating a summation value that represents the sum of the weighted sample auxiliary signals and the weighted sample reference signals; e) creating an error signal that represents the difference between the desired signal and the summation value; f) scaling the error signal to generate an update function; g) detecting the error signal; h) applying the update function to each of the auxiliary weights and reference weights; and i) returning to step (a).